Marshall in a Box Pedals

not_the_dj · September 2013

I'm drooling over the Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret MKIII...but what is the best Marshall in a Box pedal?

not_the_dj · September 2013

PS, I use am Egnater Tweaker 40 set to sound as close to Fender cleans as I can, so I fancy being able to go Marshall grit at the press of a footswitch.

John_P · September 2013

I'd vote for the Wampler Pinnacle or MI Crunch box.

The pinnacle has more variations in sounds although the crunchbox is a bit of a one sound pedal (imho) it does a great job of that sound.
For slightly less gain, I really like the look of the HAO rustdriver that's for sale on here - if I had a spare loop in my board I'd have already grabbed it.

Axe_meister · September 2013

not_the_dj;31768" said:
PS, I use am Egnater Tweaker 40 set to sound as close to Fender cleans as I can, so I fancy being able to go Marshall grit at the press of a footswitch.

Wish somebody would come up with a mod to switch the eq from US to bit via a foots witch on the a Egnator. Rather than switching the FX loop off

IanSavage · September 2013

Don't need to spend megabucks, Marshall Guv'nor.

monquixote · September 2013

I have a DLS MkI and it's very good (You could probably buy it if you like)

Interestingly its surprisingly not that high gained, but it is as good as it's word and works exceptionally well when pushed by other pedals (TS, Liquid Sunshine)

The other reasonably low gained, but very Marshally pedal is the Box of Rock which I love the sound of, but hate the form factor (sideways pedals WTF?)

My latest revelation is the Super Crunchbox. I liked the old one, but it was a bit of a one trick pony focussing on the nastier high gain JCM800 tones and it could sound artificial when cranked. The new one is awesome with a "Plexi" type mode for more open sounds (which is what I'm using) and a more compressed mode which sounds quite like a Pinnacle. Also it's now 18v internal voltage which makes it a lot more "ampy" than the old one. It's a LOT higher gained than the DLS or BoR (at least in high gain mode)

The Pinnacle I like, but it was a bit too compressed and likes to stamp on your amps character for me to keep it.

Dave_Mc · September 2013

^ I was gonna say the super crunchbox looks pretty nice, but I haven't tried it. Nice to hear it's good.

Most of them, as you suggest, seem to aim either at the more vintage marshall-type tone or the more modern higher gain marshall-type tone. The SCB is one of the few that seems to try to do it all, but whether it does it as well as ones solely aimed at that specific tone, I dunno.

fretmeister · September 2013

I really like the Carl Martin Plexitone. But the Marshall Jackhammer on the OD setting works very well too

John_P · September 2013

fretmeister said:

I really like the Carl Martin Plexitone. But the Marshall Jackhammer on the OD setting works very well too

+1 on the plexitone, I forgot about that one, I really liked it and if I hadn't already got the pinnacle I would have kept it.

Longtallronnie · September 2013

Distortron gets my vote. The Bogner Blue has a "plexi" setting.

mike_l · September 2013

MXR Distortion 3, I've had sounds from Hendrix to AC/DC (using different guitars) using this and a clean set DSL.

Using a Strat you can get nice Hendix-y sounds, and using 'buckers any thing from AC/DC to pretty heavy rock. It's has a little too much mids for "thrash" but for classic rock I'd recommend.

I'll bring it to the next BeagleFest so you can try.

ThePrettyDamned · September 2013

Marshall guvnor easily.

monquixote · September 2013

The Guvnor Plus is a great pedal for not much cash, but it's more like a preamp than a regular drive box.

not_the_dj · September 2013

Thanks guys. I had a Marshall Guv'nor years ago...and the pedal junkie side of my personality wants something new ;-)

The BoR layout puts me off those as well.

The Pinacle and Plexitone are certainly options, I'll look into those.

Hadn't considered the MXR though, that'd be great to try out, thanks.

It's nothing I'm despirate for, just pondering a few what ifs.

samzadgan · September 2013

i have the MXR Distortion 3...although i really liked it and shouldn't have sold it...i didnt think it was marshall sounding?

i had the DLS Mk1.2 with the internal switch to add more dirt...and that was amazing, either as stand alone or pushing other pedals.

Dave_Mc · September 2013

yeah the plexitone is nice (assuming my cheapo joyo hot plexi is a clone of it, which i suspect it is, but i haven't opened it to see), but it's one of the lower gain ones, i'd say.

ICBM · September 2013

I was going to say it can't be because they're about as completely different as two pedals can be, but I didn't realise Carl Martin do a small battery-powered Plexitone now...

The original big mains-powered one is fantastic - about as close to Van Halen in a box I've ever heard - but is, er... big and mains-powered

, which will put some people off. The one I had leaked dirt into the bypass signal very slightly as well - which is something that annoys me, although it probably only matters if you want your clean sound strictly clean. Surprisingly it gets very close to sounding like a Marshall amp even though it doesn't have a full EQ, which is something I usually find a requirement. They much have just voiced it exactly how I like inside.

ThePrettyDamned · September 2013

The mxr purple plexi is another Marshall type. Sounds awesome. Build your own from poodle pedals if you want it cheap, as I don't think they're made anymore

Phil_aka_Pip · September 2013

IanSavage said:

Don't need to spend megabucks, Marshall Guv'nor.

Yes, indeed. I have an original and it sounds like a JCM800 on full chat. Superb

hywelg · September 2013

I have the Pinnacle and its very good but its very much a Plexi on steroids type Marshall. Fine if thats what your after but it doesn't do early Hendrix Plexi that well.

I also have a Menatone Workingmans Blue (JTM45 style), indeed I have two of them, which is very good indeed for that early Marshall sound. I also have a Menatone (yeah I really rate those pedals) Blue Collar which does a compressed higher gain 80's Marshall sound quite well. I'm still after the King of the Britains which is supposedly more early 70's Plexi.

Menatone do very good amp in a box pedals, I also have the TBIAC which has never left my board, and apparently the Foxy Brown was a 20watt Marshall style pedal, now not available sadly.

not_the_dj · September 2013

Thanks guys. It's definately a more classic rock plexi sound I'm after

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